Paranormal Activity - Review

Ambassadors Theatre, London

****

Written by Levi Holloway

Directed by Felix Barrett

Melissa James and Patrick Heusinger

Drawn from the seven-movie Paranormal Activity franchise, this new tale sees James (played by Patrick Heusinger) and Lou (Melissa James) move from Chicago to London in the hope of escaping a presence that has been haunting their lives. 

Within moments of the curtain rising the tone is set and tension is firmly on the menu (with a healthy increased heart rate as a side), followed by a rollercoaster of fear that is best left to be experienced first-hand.  Chris Fisher’s illusions are sensational, delivering scares good enough to garner loud, theatre-wide reactions. As the interval lights came up the audience’s relieved chatter, grateful for the brief respite from the terror, was audible. 

The second act takes advantage of one’s lowered guard, immediately ramping up the tension, rarely letting up till the close of the show, the tight and creative delivery of the effects packing a punch around every turn.

All of this is only possible due to the impressive cast who deliver convincing performances throughout. It took very little time to become convinced and invested in the relationship of the young couple and quickly sympathetic to their struggles

Experiencing Paranormal Activity in a packed theatre amidst the audience’s reactions to the evening’s scares only enhances the experience. Terrifying fun!

Runs until 28th February 2026

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Reviewed by Kishan Lukha

The Nutcracker - Review

London Coliseum, London

****

Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreographed by Aaron S. Watkin and Arielle Smith

The English National Ballet

In a gorgeous display of Christmas tradition, the English National Ballet bring Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker to the London Coliseum for the holiday season. Aaron S. Watkin and Arielle Smith co-choreograph the piece to deliver an evening of stunning dance, music and spectacle.

The fairytale dream of the story is beautifully realised by the ballet’s company and creatives. A roster of children dance as the young Clara. On the night of this review, Delilah Wiggins was on stage, and as she fell into a deep sleep following a beautifully danced party, Ivana Bueno took over the role of the adolescent Clara, with Paulo Rodrigues playing the Nutcracker Prince who whisks her off to the enchanted Land of Sweets and Delights. Their departure, flying off in a magical sleigh drawn by a seahorse, was but one of the ballet’s stunning design touches from Dick Bird.

Act two plays out entirely in the land of sweets, where Bird has created a staging that is as visually satisfying as a box of chocolates! All sorts of confection from around the world are danced to Tchaikovsky’s timeless tunes with a corps of Wiggins’s juniors, all from the Adagio School of Dance performing a great routine as the contents of a box of Ballet’s Liquorice Allsorts. The Nutcracker's melodies of course remain a reminder of just how much the Russian composer’s music has imprinted itself onto our consciousness.

Bird’s visuals along with Leo Flint’s video designs are breathtaking, and as Sangeun Lee brings the evening’s ballet-work to a crescendo with her Dance of The Sugar Plum Fairy, the moment is exquisite.

Technically wonderful, and with the English National Ballet Philharmonic under the baton of Maria Seletskaja sounding delectable, The Nutcracker is a fabulous festive treat.

Runs until 11th January 2026

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Cinderella - Review

Richmond Theatre, Richmond

*****

Written by Harry Michaels & Alan McHugh

Additional material by Gary Wilmot

Directed by Gary Wilmot

Jak Allen-Anderson, Charlie Stemp & Stephen Guarino

Richmond Theatre’s Cinderella is an absolute fairytale of a pantomime. With countless recent years’ featuring in London’s Palladium panto, Gary Wilmot steps off the stage to direct at Richmond and he helms an absolute blast of a show!

Helen George takes the show’s starriest billing as the story’s enchanting Fairy Godmother, and with a stunning voice to match. The evening quickly launches into a cover of Petula Clark’s Downtown covered instead into Richmond. It's fabulously sung by all the cast and sets the tone for top-notch pantomime humour, brilliantly delivered.

Taking the honours as Buttons is one of the nation’s greatest musical theatre triple-threat performers, the incomparable Charlie Stemp. His is a brilliantly bashful, bungling Buttons, combining physical comedy with bursts of sensational dance numbers. Stemp has also polished his pantomime craft at the Palladium and it shows. Adults and children alike, he holds the audience in the palm of his hand, working the room magnificently. 

Stemp and George have to share the spotlight however with that venerable old fox, Basil Brush as Baron Basil Hardup . With 63 performing years to his name Brush knows his way around a panto and while the kids in the audience may have been confused as to what the role was of this on-stage ventriloquist’s *mouse* (I kid you not, I heard them call Basil a mouse. Oh yes I did!), the grown-ups groaned with laughter at every one of the puppet’s trademark “Boom Booms”.

Did I mention dance? Well it helps that the show is choreographed by the world-class legend that is Stephen Mear. Rarely (maybe even never) are out-of-town pantomimes performed with such classy choreography, as Mear coaxes brilliance not just out of Stemp, but from his entire ensemble. Don’t ask how they fit into the narrative, but the cutest routine of tap-dancing polar bears, drilled to pawed perfection, has to be seen to be believed!

The show’s baddies are wickedly played by Jak Allen-Anderson and Stephen Guarino as the ugly stepsisters, American actor Guarino making his panto debut! The pair are great fun, well-earning the evening’s boos.

Hope Daw, Tom Major and Michael Lin respectively play the relatively straight roles of Cinderella, Prince Charming and Dandini, with all delivering fine work that makes the evening soar.

The second act rolls out the comedy highlights, with a hilarious tongue-twisting scene, matched only by a hilariously and (almost) perfectly co-ordinated take on the physically demanding If I Were Not At Hardup Hall Someone Else I’d Rather Be. Equally, the show’s penultimate number, the little know ABBA gem, Gimme Gimme Gimme A Slipper That Fits Me is another festive gem!

It’s not often that one sees pantomime of top-notch West End quality for the cost of a local ticket. Don’t miss Cinderella at the Richmond theatre. It’s a Christmas cracker! 

Runs until 4th January 2026

Photo credit: Ian Olsson

Cinderella And The Matzo Ball - Review

JW3, London

***

Written by Nick Cassenbaum

Directed by Abigail Anderson

Talia Pick and Debbie Chazen

Cinderella and the Matzo Ball marks the JW3rd pantomime from Nick Cassenbaum at London’s eponymous community centre.

Talia Pick plays the titular heroine in a fantastic performance. Talya Soames as Buttons is equally strong. 

Yet again however, Cassenbaum and his director Abigail Anderson choose not to cast a man (or men) in drag for some of this classic fairytale’s famously monstrous roles. There’s scope for hideousness (which both adults and children adore) in Cinderella’s famously ugly sisters and while the competent Libby Liburd and Rosie Yadid dutifully fulfil their sisterly responsibilities with strong turns, the show would have been so much funnier if they’d been replaced by men in frocks. At long last however Debbie Chazen is perfectly (and appropriately) cast in a JW3 panto as the story’s Fairy Godmother.

It is also hard to fathom why Cassenbaum has upended the traditional narrative by making the usually anodyne (but charming) Prince Charming, in this iteration, a money-grabbing villain. There’s enough antisemitic tropery in the world as it is, without such a troublingly unhelpful blunder.

For the most part Cassenbaum's gags are weak. The one truly sparkling gem of humour is his take on Wicked’s Popular, reworked here into Secular. Josh Middleton’s musical adaptations are excellent, with Yael Lowenstein’s choreography similarly an impressive treat in the tight confines of the JW3 space.

Children will love the show with its strong acting and visuals - Cinderella's transition into her ballgown is a delight - and parents will enjoy their kids' laughter. But this show could have been so much more.

Runs until 4th January 2026

Photo credit: Charlie Flint

Wicked For Good - My Thoughts

Finally caught up with Wicked For Good last night. Went in sceptically, came out in adoration.

Firstly, the criticisms:

Not *sure* that the original merited being served up as two full-length feature-film chapters - that being said, the film offers a greater scenic treat than the stage so maybe there is a justification.

Similarly - Stephen Schwartz’s new songs (especially No Place Like Home) feel like padding… there’s not much “Wow” in the new numbers compared to the brilliant original.

Also - TBH the CGI left me unmoved - I don’t need to see Elohaba fly on her broomstick, nor do I crave the sight of a menagerie of liberated beasts… but I’m sure that many others will have thoroughly enjoyed the digital wizardry.

THAT BEING SAID….

The acting (and singing) is off the scale. Both Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande deliver the complex nuances of their roles to perfection - and given that cinema is all about the close-up, their facial work is sensational. One of the best on-screen dramas to be found this year.

Equally the supporting work from Jonathan Bailey (Fiyero), Ethan Slater (Boq) , Marissa Bode (Nessarose) and of course Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard is all delivered with pinpoint accuracy.
And fab to spot so many unsung greats from the pool of UK musical theatre talent, popping up all over the place in various minor roles. 

If you haven’t already seen it - catch it on a big screen somewhere before it streams its way into the global consciousness!

Beauty and the Beast a Horny Love Story - Review

Charing Cross Theatre, London

****

Written by Jon Bradfield and Martin Hooper

Directed by Andrew Beckett

Keanu Adolphus Johnson and Matt Kennedy

Writers Jon Bradfield and Martin Hooper have transferred the classic fairytale over the sea from France to the Scottish village of Lickmanochers. With the town of Suckmacoch nearby, the scene is perfectly set for one of the capital’s filthiest, funniest pantomimes this year.

Deliciously de-Disneyfied, and with a wonderfully improbable storyline that is best not subject to too much scrutiny, it’s no real spoiler to say that Keanu Adolphus Johnson’s gay Beast does follow the tale’s traditional path, winning the love of Matt Kennedy’s virginal Bertie.

Matthew Baldwin’s Dame Flora (she’s “easily spread”) is a blast, with an array of costumes that include a fabulous take on Angela Lansbury/Mrs Potts’s teapot. Dani Mirels (as Juno) and Laura Anna-Mead (Bonnie) provide the evening’s sapphic love interest.

As Bradfield and Hooper spoof many of the cartoon’s numbers, there’s a terrific rip-off of Belle to get things started, with a sensational Be Our Slave featuring later in the show. Quite how the narrative winds up in the North Sea (with In The Navy transformed into On An Oil Rig) is a conundrum but frankly it doesn’t matter. The dialogue is slick, sassy and coarse, with knowing theatrical nods and references to satisfy even the wisest West End Wendy. The shows production values are fab. Andrew Beckett’s direction is strengthened by David Shields’s simply sumptuous sets and Carole Todd’s imaginative choreography.

Leave the kids at home and treat yourself to a classy night out that's as camp as Christmas.

Runs until 11th January 2026

Photo credit: Steve Gregson

Jack and the Beanstalk - Review

Palace Theatre, Watford

****

Written by Steve Marmion

Directed by James Williams

Jack and the Beanstalk at Watford Palace Theatre makes for fine family fun. From its opening number of Alicia Keys’s Empire State of Mind that delightfully transforms its haunting New York lyric into Watford, the show is off to a cracking start. 

Imad Eldeen puts in a fresh-faced turn as Jack but it is Watford’s favourite dame, Terence Frisch now in his 13th season at the venue, who drives the show’s comedy as Jack’s mum Dame Trott. The other on-stage powerhouse  is Lauren Azania as Fairy ‘Nuff whose energy and vocals are never less than excellent. The evening’s boos are well earned by Jessica Dennis as the Giant’s assistant Judi Henchman while the enormous puppet Giant is boomingly voiced by Stephen Fry.

This is a lovely local panto with a fabulously drilled troupe of local young performers providing the dance and some modest acting backup too. Don’t ask why, but somehow Rent’s Seasons of Love is shoe-horned into the narrative, with credit to the entire on-stage company for delivering gorgeous vocals to that number (and great work too from Associate Musical Director Dominic Bull on keys). There was a smattering of recent pop hits included, that may well have bypassed the over 40s in the audience but certainly had the kids grinning in recognition. 

Frisch’s banter is spot-on throughout, with his dress that sees him as local legend Elton John sprawled across a piano, one of the evening’s highlights.

If smiling, laughing kids and adults are the hallmark of a great pantomime, then Steve Marmion and Watford Palace Theatre have delivered a fabulous show.

Runs until 4th January 2026